War Paint

So it's a cold but clear Sunday morning, and I'm sitting here shivering, because the central heating boiler broke down yesterday evening. Realistically, I don't imagine it will be fixed before tomorrow, so a chilly day is in prospect. "How to warm it up" I ask myself; well, I could talk for ten minutes on any random subject (that's usually guaranteed to generate sufficient hot air to fill a small concert hall); or write some in-depth technical article (my boss thinks I write too much on topics that he's not interested in, like podcasting; of course, since he won't permit me to write on at least one subject I could really could eulogise, like the cunning stuff I spend my working hours developing, it's partly a problem of his own making!) Or, I could write a poem, and share it with you, gentle reader. So here you are.

I left a comment to a post on someone else's blog recently; after I'd written the comment, I realised that the first four words had a rhythm that seemed to beg to be expanded upon.

"War Paint"

Make-up: concealer, camouflage, revealer;
What does the term mean to you?
Method to hide from the hostile outside;
Armour to face an unyielding world;
Or gloss on the final product?

For me, all three,
But mostly the latter.
One way to ensure that
You see what I see.

Without it, I'm me
Still the same me
But clad in a skin that won't set me free;
That won't let me be who I know to be
The person inside of me.

But give me a mirror
Some light, and ten minutes
And I'll put on my mask, for sure.
Cover the blemishes, fill in the wrinkles,
Lay the foundation; but more
Than all that, I'll set free my soul
And say, "there you go, there's the door".

Open, step through
(In a well-chosen shoe)
And see the outside as before;
But see it more clearly,
Feel it more dearly
Like a swimmer who makes for the shore

The world hasn't changed
In a tangible way
From the one that I lived in before
But how I live in it
And what I give to it
Is what I am doing this for.

This blog has been migrated to new software on a different server (http://www.multidimensional.me.uk) and comments on this post on *this* blog are now closed. All existing comments have been copied to the equivalent post on the new blog. If you still wish to comment on this post, please use the equivalent post at: http://www.multidimensional.me.uk/